UK immigration matters and articles on migration, studying or working in the UK, as well as other countries. UK immigration visa appeals, refusal of visas or leave to remain, deportation and removal from the UK and overstaying in the UK. Articles on setting up a business online and making money online.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Minimum Salary for Tier 2 Work Permits to Rise to £30,000 as UK Immigration gets Tougher for Non-EU Migrants

If you think 2016 was a tough year for non-EU migrants, 2017 is about to get even harder, especially for anyone considering coming to the UK on a Tier 2 (General) working visa, such as a nurse.

The Immigration Act 2016 will see the Home Office bring in sweeping changes from April to the Tier 2 General work permit
rules, including increasing the minimum salary requirement to £30,000, with no
transitional arrangement for those sponsored between 24 November 2016 and April
2017.

Nursing will remain on the Shortage Occupation List, as there are still thousands of nurse jobs in the UK. But for the
first time employers will be required to carry out a ‘Resident Labour Market
Test’ before assigning a nurse a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), even if the
job is on the national shortage list.

The new minimum salary will automatically exclude many jobs and is above the UK average income, such as band 5 NHS nurses who start as around £26,000,

In addition, a new ‘Genuineness’ test will mean that Tier 2 applicants must satisfy the Home Office or entry clearance officer that they genuinely intend to undertake and are capable
of undertaking the job for which the CoS is assigned.This could include attending an
interview for entry clearance visas or further leave to remain.

Employers will be hit by a new tax or 'Immigration Skills Charge' of £1000 per year, per migrant to 'encourage' them to invest in training resident
workers. There will be an exemption for PhD occupations, Tier 2 (ICT-Graduate
Trainees) and Tier 4 students switching to Tier 2. The Home Office will also
have more powers to search and seize documents from an employer, such as
wage slips and time sheets, in order to build a case against them and an
illegal worker.

Migrants will no longer have a 28-day ‘grace period’ in which to apply for
further leave to remain, which means you could be branded a visa overstayer on your
immigration record.

UK settlement rules are being tightened from April
2016, after which some Tier 2 visa holders will have to be earning a minimum of
£35,000 per annum in order to apply for permanent residency or indefinite leave to remain. If you do
not meet the salary requirement, you will not be able to stay in the UK for longer
than six years and will not be able to reapply for another Tier 2 visa until you
have completed a 12-month ‘cooling-off’ period outside the UK.

The Brexit, or leave EU vote, will do little to curb European immigration in the next few years as arguments rage over what type of exit Britain wants. This week the Supreme Court ruled that the Article 50 process, the mechanism required to trigger UK's exit from the European Union, must be put before MP's in Parliament. And with EU leaders insisting that free movement of labour is non-negotiable when it comes to thrashing out any trade deals, it looks like the only option for Home Secretary Amber Rudd to reduce immigration to the UK is to continue restricting non-EU migrants.

Across the pond in America today, Donald Trump has announced a halt on the U.S. refugee immigration programme for a temporary period. In his inauguration speech Trump spoke of 'America first' and wants to boost employment for resident workers. However, America still has a shortage of around one million nurses and the IT sector in the U.S and UK needs to attract the brightest and best for their growing digital economy.

The Immigration Act will have a number of consequences for
Tier 2 employers and migrant workers. I will be giving you further guidance on
the settlement (ILR) changes, as well as other changes, such as Tier 4 student
visa switching rules, in future articles.

UK immigration matters and articles on migration, studying or working in the UK, as well as other countries. UK immigration visa appeals, refusal of visas or leave to remain, deportation and removal from the UK and overstaying in the UK. Articles on setting up a business online and making money online.